Clarence Square — Attraction in Toronto

My dogs and I love this dog park. Easy walking distance from my place downtown, and there are dogs here all the time, no matter when you show up. Great social interaction for the dogs, and great people that go there. There are some negatives with the park though. First, the floor of the park is a large gravel / small rock surface, which is not pleasing for dogs to walk on, and I could imagine how hot it would be in the summer. Second, there are only a few trees (I think two) that provide minimal shade, once again makes it super hot and the dogs need to hide under the benches in the winter. Third, I've had some issues with owners not controlling their dogs when I brought my submissive dog (who was under a year old at the time) and they pretty much saw him as prey and tried to attack him (sometimes as a pack) so be careful - and trust me, this is not play when my dog is under 10 lbs and these are 80 lb dogs. But of course, use the dog park at your own rish. I just left after those incidents for my dog's safety. Lastly, sometimes there are some "unclassy" people hanging around outside the park who are shouting, smoking paraphernalia, and some who are mentally ill that come into the park and try to take people's dogs but most of the dog owners already are aware of these people and just quickly take their...

I had a very bad experience with the front desk guy. On my checkout day, I was getting ready in my female only dorm room and I was an hour late than the usual checkout time(11am). So this front desk guy without knocking the door just used his keys and entered the FEMALY ONLY room without any intimation. He just walked upto my bed without permission. When I complained about this to the other female colleague of his then she just shrugged this off. I understand I was late and I had informed the cleaning lady which came to room at 10am but it is highly unacceptable that a guy is randomly coming to female dorms. I have been travelling from 5 years and lived in many hostels around europe but this never ever happened. Everybody adjusts for an hour or so. He even charged me extra money just for an hour which is still ok but how is it acceptable to enter the rooms? I will never recommend anyone especially girls to stay...

This review is for the dog park within Clarence Square. It's great to have a fenced-in dog park in such a central downtown location, which is the main reason for the good rating. This is your typical small-ish off-leash dog area, and includes a doggie water fountain for drinking and rinsing/spray down.

I docked a star because the entire area is filled with large chunks of gravel, which isn't ideal for small doggie paws (maybe this is a bit paranoid but I also suspect it could be bad for running/jumping injuries), though I know earth/soil has its own pitfalls. There is no shade in the fenced in area, so it gets quite hot in the summer and full sun. Otherwise a nice little central spot for a...